“Silly Ling’er.”
Seeing Ling’er cry, Shen Yuanzhu’s eyes also reddened.
After all, she was just a young girl who had recently come of age. It would be false to say she had no worries about the change in her marriage arrangement, but Shen Yuanzhu looked further ahead.
“If I cared only for love, I would surely be troubled, but I am different from ordinary people.”
Shen Yuanzhu pursed her lips, her round eyes clear and bright, without a trace of confusion or attachment.
“Old Madam Xie likes me, Madam Xie likes me—not because of Xie Xuchuan, but because of the Dyeing Manual in my hands.
“This is the bargaining chip I can use to negotiate with the Xie family.
“The marriage arrangement cannot be broken, but no matter who from the Xie family marries me, no matter how uncomfortable he may feel inside, he will have to respect me and provide for me.”
“As long as I do not fully reveal the Dyeing Manual in my hands to the Xie family, they dare not do anything to me.”
Luo Shi stroked Ling’er’s long hair and gently soothed her: “Changing the person in the marriage arrangement is not that simple. These next few days will depend on whether Xie Xuchuan can come to his senses.
“If he insists on going down this dark path, it won’t be up to the young lady to say she wants to change the person. I have ways to make the Xie family be the first to bring it up.
“If the Xie family speaks first, then they are the ones who violated the marriage arrangement. Afterward, when the young lady enters their household, they will only coax and respect her.”
Glancing at Shen Yuanzhu, Luo Shi said: “To be honest, I’ve long felt that Xie Xuchuan isn’t suitable for the young lady. Xie Boyu is mediocre—how outstanding could his son be?
“All these years, acknowledging him was only because he seemed to have some genuine affection for the young lady.
“But now I realize how cheap that affection truly is.
“Seeing how well he treats the young lady, who knows how he treats Jiang Wansu when no one is looking?
“Now they even have a child. Who knows when those two rolled into bed together.”
Luo Shi’s expression was stern, her tone filled with resentment.
“You’ve long felt that Young Master Xie isn’t suitable?” Ling’er blinked: “Then who do you think is suitable?”
“Why ask such…”
“Xie Jingyuan.”
Shen Yuanzhu interrupted Luo Shi: “Brother Luo Qing has dealt with Xie Jingyuan at Jiecui Workshop and says he is a business prodigy.”
No one knew that Jiecui Workshop was her property, so naturally no one could imagine that this rising star, Jiecui Workshop, was privately owned by the Shen family’s eldest daughter.
Jiecui Workshop had cooperated with both the Xie and Shen families, so Luo Qing was not unfamiliar with Xie Jingyuan.
Thinking of Xie Jingyuan, Shen Yuanzhu tapped her chin with her fingertip, lowering her eyes in contemplation: “The Xie family’s businesses are only entrusted to the eldest branch. Xie Boyu is mediocre, but Xie Jingyuan has methods. Given time, his ambition will surely become uncontainable.
“If the two of us were to marry, I could use this opportunity to incite him to withdraw from the Xie family’s businesses and hand over part of Jiecui Workshop to him.
“Although the Xie family has an ancestral rule against dividing the family, with hearts not united, it won’t be long before the drama of brothers fighting breaks out. By then, I will…”
Before Shen Yuanzhu could finish, Ling’er, terrified, hurriedly covered her mouth.
“Young lady!”
Ling’er’s face flushed with urgency: “You… you… if such words were to spread, you could be drowned in a pig cage! How can you say such things!”
Luo Shi was also startled by Shen Yuanzhu.
She did indeed think more highly of Xie Jingyuan, but how dare she say such things so openly and boldly?
Luo Shi tapped her chest, exclaiming: “Young lady, such words must not be spoken! You, my dear, are excellent in every way, except that your heart is stuck in a coin’s eye, recognizing nothing else.
“These words must absolutely not be spoken again.”
A niece-in-law coveting her fiancé’s third uncle—if this were overheard, she would have to immediately dash her head against the ground and die, to atone before her mother-in-law in the underworld.
Shen Yuanzhu’s lips moved slightly. Seeing Ling’er and Luo Shi’s heartbroken expressions, she softly whimpered twice.
“Miss, I can let go, but you mustn’t speak nonsense anymore, all right?”
Shen Yuanzhu nodded in agreement.
This episode thoroughly frightened Luo Shi and Ling’er, and they dared not discuss the matter again.
Their silence left Shen Yuanzhu inexplicably stifled.
It wasn’t until bedtime that evening that she hid under the covers, silently crying for a long while, and only fell into a deep sleep when utterly exhausted.
After a restless night, Shen Yuanzhu rose later than usual the next day.
Half-asleep and half-awake, she saw Ling’er trembling with rage as she pulled aside the gauze curtain.
“Miss!”
Seeing her sit up, Ling’er burst out, “Miss, Xie Xuchuan has sent a visiting card to the house! Not for you, but for Ye Yunyi!
“He… he’s a scoundrel. He must have seen that you refused, so he wants to seek out Ye Yunyi and Shen Yanhuai, to pressure you into taking that bastard child back to the Xie family.
“He really… really goes too far!”